April 19, 2009 |

The Orioles will attempt to end an eight game losing streak against the Red Sox at Fenway Park this afternoon at 1:35.

Last night, Boston beat up O’s starter Adam Eaton for six runs on nine hits in just four innings. Down 6-0, the Orioles answered with four runs off Josh Beckett in the top of the 5th, but that would be the end of all the scoring for the night. Jonathan Papelbon, Boston’s closer, ended a threat in the 9th when he got Aubrey Huff to fly out for the final out with the would-be tying runs on base.

Today Koji Uehara will go for his third win of his MLB career in as many starts when he takes the ball for the first time at Fenway. Though he’s gotten victories, Uehara’s first two outings have been less than optimal as he hasn’t pitched past the fifth in either and sports an ERA of 7.20. Koji will never put up big strikeout numbers, but he needs to be able to change speeds on his fastball and change-up effectively with tight command to keep the Red Sox bats quiet this afternoon.

Opposing Koji will be Red Sox lefty Jon Lester. There were many prognosticators predicting big things from this young kid, who beat cancer just two short years ago. Lester, a potential dark horse Cy Young candidate, has gotten off to a slow start to this ’09 season. He’s struggled so far going 0-2 and has given up 18 hits and 11 runs in losses at Fenway to the Rays and out in Oakland against the A’s. However, Lester is probably very happy to see Baltimore come to town as he’s 6-0 with a 2.81 ERA in eight career starts against the O’s.